1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a novel method of preparing D-ribose.
2. Discussion of the Background:
D-ribose is a monosaccharide present in nature in ribonucleic acids (RNAs) and useful in the preparation of certain medicines, e.g. riboflavin (vitamin B2), adenosine, adenosine monophosphate (AMP), ribavirin, and, in general, a number of virostatic and anticancer agents.
D-ribose is generally manufactured from RNAs of microorganisms. It may also be synthesized from D-erythrose, glutamic acid, or D-ribonic acid (see Merck Index, 10th Ed., 1983, page 8106). However, none of these methods are industrially feasible, because of the difficulty of the synthetic schemes and/or the high price of the raw materials required.
There remains a need for a process for manufacturing D-ribose on an industrial scale using readily available and relatively inexpensive raw materials.